January 2002 - Nr. 1
Praise and Protest in Song
Under a brilliantly blue sky and in the shadow of a huge Chanukah chandelier
the second last day of the Christmas Market wound down on December 15 in
front of the Toronto City Hall. It had not snowed yet one bit but was cold
and last minute buyers felt more like Christmas, or so they said. While the
few visitors followed their seasonal feelings I followed ever louder
escalating voices to just before City Hall.
There
I found several groups congregating. They resembled all sorts of minorities
and had political massages. The loudest of the voices was concerned with the
new Anti Terrorist Bills. There were all sorts of other social concerns
addressed, more from a socialist/democratic point of view than the
mainstream capitalistic/democratic one. A few women sang their criticism to
the tune of a popular Christmas song and made a seasonal message out of it.
Church Concert
On
the next day more traditional singing was heard at St. Patrick’s Church on
McCaul Street. The "Männerchor Harfentöne" under the new direction of Horst
Hartmann had invited to a seasonal concert.
Guest
choirs were the Harmonie Choir and the Edelweiss Choir, both singing under
George Zaduban’s direction. The choirs sang together and separately and
offered old familiar favourites.
The Harfentöne always excelled with a rich sound and found much admiration for their generally beautifully voices, but especially the basses. Nowadays there is less attention to individual skills and singers; instead the choir has evolved into a well-rehearsed team with well-balanced voice values where no one outshines someone else. This makes for very harmonious music.
The
two other choirs, for quite a while now under George Zaduban’s care, also
have improved vastly since we heard them last. Mr. Zaduban recognized any
weaknesses and turned them into assets. After mastering very clean and
confident beginnings the rest is much easier to accomplish in a big choir.
The various qualities of voices were coordinated with sensitivity into the
very tender sounds of the season.
The
concert attracted so many people that there was no space for a mouse left.
Even upstairs where the organ is situated every possible seat was taken.
Attributed was this fantastic turnout to a shortage of concerts this year,
but we like to think that is the loyal following of 3 very capable choirs
and their conductors, which brought out so many people. Also, everyone
really needed this kind of soul soothing activity.
It
probably is a very good idea to combine the abilities and resources of
several choirs into one concert. Everyone benefits more from a huge turnout,
even financially. Companies do it, why not choirs? We are looking forward to
a spring concert. Hopefully there will be one.
The Messiah
Handel’s Messiah must be one of the most popular musical works of all times. Toronto alone had over 40 different performances of this oratorio, which is particularly favoured at Christmas time, even though it would play just as well at Easter time. We attended one in the fabulous concert hall of North York as part of the Brott Autumn Festival on December 21, 2001. Last year we went to Hamilton for the same offering in a church. But there is no doubt, any piece of music sounds better in a good concert hall. Together with the National Academy Orchestra and the famed Elmer Iseler Singers this performance was particularly well balanced. The choir with only 24 voices, each one of them a great solo voice quality, sings as one voice, even without much rehearsal under an unfamiliar baton. The orchestra shone with some veteran and younger talent, all very gifted. Boris Brott conducted these two entities and the four soloists with flourish and made even the more serious parts of the oratorio less sombre.
Monica Whicher, soprano, has an absolutely flawless voice and technique. Daniel Taylor, a countertenor, sang the alto part and it was an incredible choice. Daniel Litchi brought with his beautiful bass a balancing weight to the lofty and ornamental music. And Mark DuBois’ lyrical tenor rose effortless to the part, telling the story of the trials of Jesus.
Each one of the artists delivered with superb diction and clarity, and each one of them also contributed the necessary emotional impact. Their techniques and ability to communicate well were equal to each other, creating a work of vast beauty, transporting even veteran music lovers into rapture. Considering how often each one of the performers, including the choir, have performed this work, it is utterly astounding that they can still deliver it as fresh as a new work. This of course is the ultimate test of a true professional.
An
old tradition was upheld: King George of England used to stand when the
chorus sang the now famous Hallelujah chorus. And when a king stands none of
his subjects can remain seated. And even though no royalty could be spotted
in the audience, all rose as one, which makes this exulting chorus only more
joyous an experience.
At
the end a happy audience rewarded the artists with long lasting applause.
After this Christmas could come. Everyone was spiritually prepared.
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
Comments to: sfr@echoworld.com
